Strange Vengeance
by Emma Stargaze
Summary: Willow becomes a vengeance demon in Something Blue. Unfortunately, this means she can't undo the Spuffy spell right off the bat. Follows BtVS timeline, just with Spuffyness, episode overlapping and twisting, and demon!Willow. Spuffy, WillOz, Xanya
1. Chapter 1

_A.N: Okay, so this chapter is just the alternate version of Something Blue, starting from when Willow was kidnapped. I have an outline (for once) and a few chapters already written but still in need of me to read over and edit them. Yeah. So tell me if there're typos or blah. This story will pretty much follow the Buffy story line, except with Willow as a vengeance demon, Spuffy relationship galore, and some of the episodes overlapping/ sklpped. There'll be Adam and Faith, Riley.... The lot of them._

_Words (excluding author note): 1495_

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of this. _

_Prologue I'm calling chapter 1_

A hand slapped over her mouth, Willow felt a scream rip from her throat. Surroundings blurred, dorm room fading into a dark forest. Released, she stumbled back a few steps, nearly tripping on a rock. Where was she? _Dark forest, weird demons in cloaks. Probably a demon dimension._ At least, that was the only logical conclusion she had.

"Welcome, Willow."

She looked up from the ground, locking eyes with the weird creature before her. "What do you want from me?" She tried very hard to keep a stutter from her voice, and was proud to say she had succeeded.

The man's eyes widened, filled with an emotion she had yet to identify. "Your misery is great. Your cries of grief stretch through the dimensional portals and into even our lands."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." She felt her head tilt from nerves, unable to help herself. "I'll try to keep it down to a quiet cry."

Willow followed his hand with her eyes as it made a square appear out of midair, her friends shown within it. She felt her heart speed up. Xander and Anya were fighting demons. Buffy was being choked by one. Spike, though she didn't care that much, was just getting up off the floor.

"We don't mean to qualm your powers. Quite the opposite. You would make a _fine_ vengeance demon." He almost seemed to be smiling. "Your power is great and quickly growing."

"But... I didn't want any of this! You have to help them!"

Willow listened desperately to his following words, failing to hear anything helpful. "That is no concern of mine."

"But... I don't want to be a demon!" The demon's almost-smile fell, a frown now present. Willow felt shivers crawl up and down her spine, but forced them back. She would at least appear brave.

"That is unfortunate. You would be so powerful, your mortal life changed to immortal. You could even choose what type of revenge you would give."

Willow felt a weird jump in her heart. Anya had been a demon before. She had created that hellish world, but she had also turned a man into a troll even before that. And this guy didn't seem so evil. "I... If I become a demon, could I still help my friends?"

"It is your vengeance cast upon them," the man replied. "They have to accept your offer of having the curse removed and you must forgive them. They must also acknowledge that they are under a curse."

Willow nodded. "Y-yeah, I can do that." _I wasn't enough for Oz. I can actually help people in my position now. _"Um, about the becoming a demon thing... Could I still live a sorta normal life?"

"Why, yes. I don't see why you would want to, but it is allowed, as long as you carry out your job. If you do not carry out enough vengeance, then you will age much quicker, or have your power revoked. Understood?"

"Yes," she quickly agreed, wanting that square thing to reappear. Green eyes watched with fascination as a gem appeared out of midair. He handed it to her, and it turned out to be a beautiful necklace, not unlike Anya's. The only difference was that it was a brilliant blue, surrounded by gold, and connected to a golden chain. She gasped, feeling the sky rush up to meet her, back hurting as it hit something hard. Surroundings fuzzed, power coursing through her veins. Writhing against the ground, she clawed at her skin.

xxx

Xander pushed Anya out of the way, crying out as a demon slugged him. He wished that Buffy would get off the floor and stop kissing Spike. It would be much easier if she were helping him.

"Um, guys?"

Xander looked over his shoulder, relief flooding him as he spotted Willow. His distraction lasted long enough for a demon to knock him to the ground.

"Do you acknowledge that I have extracted vengeance upon you?"

"Duh!" Xander exclaimed. How could he not? Not like he deserved anything this bad for just trying to help, but he needed her to help him, and he'd do what he had to.

"And are you ready for me to undo it?"

"Please!"

A few choice words, and all demons disappeared. He gasped, falling to the ground. Only then did he notice Giles, eyes roaming the room and checking each occupant. Apparently Willow had already helped him with the whole blindness thing. The sound of lips on lips brought all eyes to the kissing enemies.

"Buffy, Spike," Willow tried, voice confident and demanding. Creepy, even. The slayer and vampire actually pulled away to look at the witch. Xander felt admiration towards the red head. "Do you acknowledge that I have extracted vengeance upon you?"

Xander smirked. Finally. He'd had enough watching the two exchange saliva.

"Whatcha talking about? Vengeance on who?"

Xander gaped at Buffy, disbelieving. He looked from Willow's raised brow to Spike's pout.

"This isn't bloody vengeance. It's heaven."

The powerless boy felt his stomach twist when Buffy smiled endearingly at the blond vampire. "Oh, Spike. I know what you mean!" And they were locked at the lips once more.

"This is hopeless," said Anya. "They're clearly going to become orgasm buddies if this continues."

"Worse," said Xander. "They're going to get _married_ and be _more_ than orgasm buddies."

"I have something I think you guys should know."

Gazes landed on Willow, even Spike and Buffy separating to look at the witch.

"I'm a vengeance demon now."

"_What_?" was pretty much the dominating response.

Buffy got to her feet, eyes furrowed. "Really? You don't look like a demon."

"She is," Anya announced. "She's got the power stone. Xander, this is so unfair! They gave her a chance, but didn't give me a second one! That necklace should be mine! Tell her to give it to me."

Xander sighed. Not another random fight between girls, with him in the middle. "I doubt it even works that way, Ahn. Giles, you're the all-knowing watcher. What do you say?"

Giles was cleaning his glasses. "Willow is still herself. However, her levels of guilt should be lessened. She still has her soul, she still has her personality and brain. She is Willow. And vengeance demons only carry on the will of another. Rarely do they kill."

"So it's fine to hang with her," Buffy translated, leaning into the arms that had wrapped around her. "So Willow can come to the wedding, too!"

"Bloody right she can," Spike agreed. Xander looked away as the vamp leaned down for another kiss, instead looking at Willow. She looked a bit guilty for the turn of events, but not as much as she should have.

xxx

Buffy giggled, dragging Spike to her dorm room. A sudden pull, and she found that he had paused. "Spike?" Had he decided to pull quits on her?

His annoyed gaze met hers. "You have t' invite me in, luv."

"Oh! Yeah! Come on in, Spike." She proceeded to tug him in after her, pulling him onto the bed beside her. "Willow's staying at her own house tonight, since her mom is finally home. You know what that means?"

He smirked, crawling on top of her. Hands on either side of her head, lips pressed to her ear, he whispered, "Do _you_?"

xxx

Why did she have to do this, again? Right, because it was her fault. It wasn't fear, but annoyance that filled Willow's form. Being a demon seemed to really hinder her guilt levels. She paused with her hand on the handle, the sound of moaning reaching her ears.

_Are they killing each other? _No, that was stupid. They were still under the spell, obviously. Bracing herself, Willow entered the room. She felt a hint of guilt at what she saw, however. Spike was most definitely not fighting with Buffy. Not if the way her legs-

Willow cleared her throat, calling their names when that failed. Spike rolled off Buffy, both sitting up and staring at the witch. She was relieved to be mistaken on _exactly_ what they were doing. "Um... can you get a room that's _not_ mine to do this in?"

Buffy was strawberry red. "Willow! You were supposed to be at home!"

"My mom didn't show up." _She never does_.

"Oh..." Buffy's smile fell. "I'm sorry." She looked at Spike, smile returning. "Let's just sleep now. We'll finish this tomorrow."

"Sure thing, sweets."

Willow wondered that, if she had such a strong conscience as a human, perhaps some of the guilt managed to stay with her.

She'd definitely be making cookies.

xxx

_A.N: Reviews are strongly appreciated! I love constructive criticism, too!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A.N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I was feeling a bit self conscious, and wondering if I should update. You guys convinced me to, so thanks to: **Brett**, **bahjcb**, **Doni**, and **shadow**. If I missed you, please tell me! I hope this chapter is satisfactory :P_

_Disclaimer: I don't own BtVS. No doubts about it. _

_Words: 2625 _

Chapter 2: Accept Us Not

Buffy yawned, snuggling closer to the cool body beside her.

"Morning, pet."

She smiled, slowly opening her eyes. She was met with bright, penetrating cerulean. "Morning, Spike." The slayer grudgingly pulled from his embrace, getting to her feet. At his pout, she reminded, "I've gotta go to school. You know that."

"Yeah. Guess I need to sleep sometime, right?"

"Exactly!" She bent to press one last kiss to his lips, giggling as he pulled her flush against him. "I'll see you later."

"Right you are, love."

xxx

Riley wondered if the world had pulled a whammy on him. Beside him, Buffy was babbling on about some stranger named Spike and her impending wedding.

"I mean, he's just so handsome, you know?"

"No," he disagreed, irritation welling up as she ignored him once more, nodding to him.

"Yeah. He's so old, but he looks only a few years older than me. Amazing, right?"

"Not really."

"Oh, and I'm still trying to convince him to have an outdoor, daytime wedding, but he seems so against it."

"Buffy-."

"Not that I can blame him. I mean, he'll turn into-."

He stopped in front of her, grabbing her shoulders. He stared into confused blue eyes. "Buffy. How long have you been seeing each other, romantically?"

Her eyes seemed to glaze over, in a happy, daydreamy way. "Two days."

_Two days? _"People don't get engaged on the day they start dating. There's something off here." He faltered when her eyes filled with tears. He was at a loss.

"But... but I love him... And he loves me, too! We're perfect for each other!" She didn't even bother to wipe away the few tears trailing down flushed cheeks.

How was he going to do this? "Can I at least meet the guy before you get married?"

He watched as her eyes lit up. "Of course!" He lacked breath as arms circled him in a crushing embrace.

"R-ribs. Breaking."

She let go, pulling back with a slight blush. "Right. Just come by my house, tonight at seven. I'm sure you'll get along great!" She blinked. "Well, no, he doesn't actually get along with anyone. Not even me. So I guess-"

"Listen, Buffy... I'll see you at seven." He turned, trying to get away as fast as he could. He didn't want to see, but he had to check out this guy she spoke of.

xxx

Willow cracked her neck, leaning back against the plastic chair. She was in psych with Buffy, but her mind was far off. She could feel the strength surging through her veins, filling her, surrounding her. The weakness of the mortals around her was intensified, though mostly the feelings of anger or sorrow.

She glanced at her best friend curiously. She got none of that off of Buffy, meaning she couldn't really sense any emotions off of the blond. She glanced at Buffy's paper so she could see the notes she had, for once, missed. She raised a brow at what she saw. Buffy had drawn a sketch of Spike and her kissing. Passionately. _At least she's happy...?_ Not much she could do to fix the situation. Buffy was oblivious to the fact that she was under a spell.

A sudden feeling surrounded the witch-turned-demon, strong and beckoning. She quickly excused herself, barely noticing Buffy following her. A quick look had the blond shrugging and sitting back down.

Soon safe in a bathroom stall, Willow closed her eyes.

"Call of the hurt and despairing,

Your cries reach my ears,

My help you are beseeching,

Vengeance shall be abstracted for your tears."

The world swirled around her, a mix of colors appearing as nothing but black. Her shoulder-length locks whipped around her, floating in the air, her power seeming to grow ten fold.

Abruptly it stopped, leaving her refreshened and in need of some form of pain. Eyes fell upon a teary-eyed girl, sitting within a circle, candles around her. Puffy red eyes looked up, and Willow held the gaze.

"Are... are you a vengeance demon?"

"Yes," she agreed, voice coming out more low and raspy than usual, raw with power. "You've called me?"

"I-I have." Brown eyes teared up once more. "This guy slept with me, and made me think we had something. But then the next day he hooked up with another girl."

"Make a wish and vengeance shall be carried out."

"I... I wish that he says something horrible and insulting every time he sees a girl he plans on sleeping with."

Willow frowned. "Really? That's it?"

"Yeah. That should be perfect."

"Alright... What's his name?"

"Parker."

xxx

"Ms. Summers, do you have something to share with the class?"

Buffy looked up from her sketch, to an expecting Professor Walsh. Well, if she wanted to see her picture... "If they want to see it," she gave, "but I don't see why they'd wanna see my sketch."

"Why don't you bring it up here?"

This was the perfect opportunity to share her relationship with yet more people. Ecstatic at the turn of events, she nodded. _I bet they'll love it, because Spike's in it. _Reaching the front of the class, she offered it to her teacher. Buffy felt indignance when Professor Walsh didn't take it. How dare she insult Buffy and Spike's love like that? Maybe she just didn't understand. "See, this is me." Naturally, she pointed to herself. "And this is my fiance."

"And for what purpose did you take up class time to draw that?"

"Oh. I was sad he wasn't with me, and I don't have any pictures of him."

Professor Walsh stared for a moment, and Buffy wondered if she had something on her face.

"Buffy. Please don't draw in my class. Go retake your seat." Why did Walsh sound so disappointed? And why was the class snickering? Shrugging it off, Buffy did as told. Well, she returned to her seat. It's not like she could stop sketching a nearly-finished picture.

xxx

Willow appeared back in the bathroom stall, feeling fresh and rejuvenated. Exiting the tiled room, she found herself facing an empty hall. How long had she been gone cursing this Parker guy? Well, she had made sure to do it extra well. After all, Parker had also hurt Buffy, once upon a time.

But what about her, Willow? Didn't she deserve something from life? _I want Oz back. _A smile tugged at her lips. She'd find him. Definitely. With her abilities, she should be able to track him. At least faster than a human, since she could sense super natural forces. She'd leave tomorrow, after telling her friends.

xxx

"Mom!" Buffy called, as she entered her house. Linked hands had Spike following in. "I've got someone for you to meet!"

The sound of foot steps met her ears, and she looked up at her mom. She was sure her mother would be fine with it, eventually.

"Buffy...? Who's this?" Brown eyes appeared to be examining the blond vampire.

Buffy felt a grin pulling at her features when Spike held out his hand. "William."

Buffy's mom took the vampire's hand, curiosity shining in her eyes. "Joyce summers. I don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing here? Are you a classmate of Buffy's?"

The slayer looked up at Spike, holding one of his hands in both of hers. "Should we?"

"I think we should. She deserves to know, love."

Elated, Buffy announced, "Spike and I are getting married!"

Joyce opened her mouth, closed it, opened, and then closed it again. "M-married? Spike?"

"'at's m' Big Bad name. Want my future mother in law to call me by my real name, though." Spike placed an arm around the slayer, holding her to him. "And I promise, I'll protect your daughter with all my heart and sou- well, all that I have to protect her with."

Buffy felt the tears gather in her eyes. "Oh, Spike!"

"This is kind of abrupt... Buffy, are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure, Mom," Buffy assured, gazing at Spike with love surging through her, heart full and warm. "Positive. And I want you to be there for the wedding."

"Oh, Buffy... If this is what you want, then I'm not going to stop you. But isn't it a bit rushed?"

Why was everyone saying that? "You can't rush true love, Mom." Great. Another person to convince. _They'll get used to it eventually. They adjusted to Angel, after all. _But then she remembered her plan, turning to Spike.

xxx

Riley knocked on the door the moment he reached it, preparing for the worst. After all, how great could a guy named _Spike_ be? The door flew open, a bouncy blond greeting him.

"Riley!" Buffy exclaimed brightly. "Let's go to Giles. I have Spike waiting there."

He heard the sound of footsteps, followed by the presence of an older woman. "Ms. Summers, I presume?"

"Yes. And you are?"

"Riley Finn." He held out his hand, shaking the lady's. She seemed to be sizing him up, and it was unsettling. He was only used to men doing that, and it was to determine if he was still fit to fight. Buffy solved this problem by dragging him away from the door.

"So, do you have a car? Cuz I don't feel very much like walking."

"Yeah. I drove here." He was disappointed when she failed to seem impressed, only nodding her approval.

xxx

Spike glared at the brunette. Did Xander have to be so annoying? "Listen, you git. I bloody well love Buffy, and the two of us are going to get married. There is no spell causing these feelings, I assure you of that much, and nothing you say will break us up."

"Oh yeah?" Xander demanded. "Think about it. You only started loving her two days ago, when Willow performed her spell!"

"That is _not_ true!" Spike said, sounding absolutely serious. "I had a thing for her since I saw her in the Bronze! I only just realized it was love two days ago! And since when do married couples have to love each other? Willow didn't mention anything about love, right?"

He was proud to see that Xander was faltering. "Well, no... but you're soulless, so you can't love."

"I bloody well too can love, mate. Because I clearly love Buffy, and don't you dare-" He spun around as the door flew open, and figured his heart would be pounding if it could. There stood Buffy, his beautiful slayer. His joy melted as he took in the details. Her eyes were red and puffy, a man following her and babbling.

"And you have to trust me, it can't possibly be right," the stranger continued. Well, he did look somewhat familiar.

"Spike!" Buffy said, sniffling. He opened his arms, wrapping his slayer in a tight embrace when she pressed herself to him for comfort. "Riley's being mean to me. He says two people can't just get married like that. That we have to go on _dates _first. But I don't want to go on dates. I want to marry you _now_."

"Shh," he soothed, stroking her hair. He hated seeing a girl cry. "It'll be alright, love. We'll get married no matter what the poof says."

She looked up at him as he wiped away stray tears. "Really?"

"You can count on it." He felt that radiance fill him once more as a smile lit her face. He pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, keeping her in his arms even as she turned to face this Riley guy.

"Riley, Spike. Spike, Riley."

Riley's eyes seemed to narrow, and Spike got a bad feeling. "Hostile seventeen? You plan on marrying _hostile seventeen_?"

Spike could feel the indignance flowing from his slayer. "How dare you insult him? You ask to meet him, and then call him strange names? You're horrible, Riley."

"Horrible or not, _he's_ a vampiric murderer. Do you seriously plan on marrying him?"

"I do," Buffy confirmed, scowl in place. "And how do you know he's a vampire?"

"I'm not permitted to share that information with civilians."

"Lemme guess," Spike said, cutting in. "You work for that government thing that experiments on creatures like me. Put the bloody chip in my head."

"..."

_So I was right?_ Spike thought, dubiously. He had just been kidding. The sudden look of resolve on Riley's face snapped Spike out of his thoughts.

"I won't let you marry him," the agent announced, turning to the door.

In a very un-Buffy-ish way, the slayer tackled him to the ground. "Giles, rope!"

Spike watched bemusedly as Riley eventually gave up struggling, the slayer too strong for him. His struggling started up again when Buffy started to tug the soldier to his feet. "Someone get a chair," she ordered.

In no time, Buffy had bound Riley to a chair, much the same as they had done to Spike only the other day, except Riley got a chair with arm rests, hands tied to said arm rests. A leg was bound to each of the front legs of the chair, rope keeping his back connected to the chair. "This is crazy, Buffy. What are you going to do? Keep me here forever?"

"He has a point," Xander insisted, hesitant to get in the middle nonetheless. "I mean, this _is_ crazy. Marrying Spike?"

Buffy placed her hands on her hips. "He does _not_ have a point. Spike and I love each other!"

"You only think you do. Buffy, just listen to me. At least agree that it's the spell."

Spike switched into game face, growling at the human boy. "There isn't any spell, nancy boy. It's true love."

A hand on Xander's shoulder from Giles managed to quiet the construction worker, but only just. "This isn't over.

She turned her attention back to Riley, hurt flashing across her features. "What languages do you speak?"

Spike watched as Riley's face lit up. _Pro'lly thinks it's his chance to prove himself. Daft git._

"English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin."

"Good! We'll send you off to China!"

"_What_?"

Buffy ignored the indignant shouts coming from her ex. Instead, she grabbed Spike's hand, calling out, "Giles, don't let him go! Spike and I are going to buy the plane ticket!"

xxx

Xander stared at the clock, boredly. It had been an hour since Buffy had left, and he had absolutely nothing to do. How hard was it to get a plane ticket for China?

"Hey, Xander!"

Said boy jumped upon hearing his name, turning his gaze to Agent Finn. "Yeah?"

"What's going on here? I thought I heard something about a spell."

Finally, his chance for someone who could relate. Giles agreed, but not as firmly. And Willow was too demonic now to feel such busying emotions. Anya didn't mind either way, being an ex-demon and all.

"You think you could help me?" Xander asked.

"We can help each other."

"Great. You see, Willow cast this spell, that will only come undone if they acknowledge they're under it, and..."

xxx

_A.N: Thanks for reading! Reviews?_


	3. Chapter 3

_A.N: Thank you to **Berserkerofhell**, **Doni**, **PhinalePhantom**, **jory-brucas101, **and **bahjcb** for reviewing! _

_Disclaimer: With each chapter that passes... I get no closer to owning BtVS. Seriously. _  
_  
_

Chapter 3: Vengeance Is Back

Anya sat in the bronze, bored out of her mind. Xander had been paying attention to no one but Buffy ever since that marriage spell. Why did he care so much? And what about her, Anya?

_He doesn't like me. If I were a vengeance demon, I'd give him more than warts on-_

"Hey. You all alone?"

Anya blinked, looking at the boy across from her. He was decidedly attractive, and she felt her heart flutter at the care she was getting from _someone._ "Yeah. My boyfriend's worrying about another girl getting married, instead of having orgasms with me."

The man seemed taken aback, and Anya wondered if it was something she said. She had yet to get the gist of human discussions. "Ah, right... how rude of him." He leaned forward slightly. "You can call me Parker."

She eyed his hand. Why did humans hold them out again? To shake? No, that's ridiculous. It was to ask for help getting up, or to help another up. Or seal a deal.

"What are your conditions?" she demanded. "And what are we making a deal on?"

"Conditions? Deal?" He dropped his hand. "I was just introducing myself."

She sniffed haughtily. "Right. Very believable." She watched as he seemed to take a calming breath.

"May I know your name?"

She considered this. "Anya."

"Well, I think you're very beau- horrific and ugly." His eyes widened, a hand slapping over his mouth. Anya wanted to join in on the slapping too. And then punch him in the jaw. "I... I didn't mean... I meant to say you're hot- atrocious and bile-worthy."

"Why, you!" Wrath filling her, spells long forgotten came back.

"Goddess Athena,

To you I beckon,

Take away his physical attraction,

And change vocal exclamations to that of a Hyena!"

She abruptly turned away from him, storming out of the building. She felt a familiar glee fill her at the screams she heard, very hyena-like. He must've seen his new reflection.

* * *

"No, I said China," Buffy admonished. "Not Cuba. They're completely different."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we don't have any flights to Cuba for at least a month," said the lady at the desk.

"_Still_ speaking about China!"

Spike placed a hand on his fiance's shoulder, stopping her before she punched the receptionist. She stepped aside, allowing him to speak to the lady.

"Excuse me, miss?" he tried.

She stared up at him unconcernedly. "What?"

"Do you, by chance, have a flight to China?"

"Why does everyone keep asking about Cuba?"

Spike felt irritation welling up within him as well, now empathizing with Buffy. "C-H-I-N-A. China. Do you have a flight?"

Eyes widened. "Oh, _China_! Why didn't you say so?" She checked the computer before her. "We have a flight scheduled in three days. It'll be expensive at such short notice-."

Spike pulled a Visa card out of his pocket, handing it to the lady. "We'll buy the tickets now, if that's alright." He had to punch in a code before the lady could take money off the card, handing him two tickets.

"Two?" Buffy questioned.

"We'll have Willow go with him, make sure he gets all the way there. Then she can teleport back." When she stared at him perplexedly, he wondered what he had done this time. "What? Got something on m' face?"

"We bought tickets, when Willow can teleport?"

"'Course. It's not like Riley can teleport."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but Willow can teleport with another person!"

"...so?" A punch to the face sent him stumbling back a few feet. "Bloody hell, slayer?"

"You're a complete idiot!"

"For not understanding? That's not quite fair, love," he pointed out, mostly just to keep her from punching him once more. His nose was broken... again. "This is going to become permanent if you keep punching me. Want me to have a crooked nose, slayer?"

She pouted, and he felt his anger melt. That didn't mean he wasn't still annoyed. "Whatever. 'm sorry."

Her pout didn't lessen, but her eyes seemed brighter. "Where'd you get that card?"

"Stole it off Giles."

"And the pin?"

"Had it written in his _Watcher's Journal_."

"You read it?"

He raised a brow. "Well, yeah. Bored vampire, tied up with a _Watcher's Journal_ in front of his face. Of course I bloody read it." He was only thankful she punched him in the gut this time.

* * *

Riley smirked when the door flew open, nodding to show Xander that he was going to go along with the plan. The ropes were now loosened enough for Riley to escape, only there to keep Buffy fooled. He felt his anger rush back in full as Buffy came in with Spike, his only satiation being the bruises scattered across Spike's form.

"Fight with the slayer?" he commented casually.

"Fight requires at least two people. This was bullying at it's finest."

"Was not!" Buffy exclaimed, glaring at the vampire.

"You really plan on marrying him?" Riley said, figuring that if he ever had a chance, it was now.

Buffy stared for a moment. "You're still going on about that? Of course Spike and I are getting married." She punched Spike again, the vampire wincing slightly.

"Watch the bruises you've already made, love."

Her eyes widened. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Spike! You're just so irritating!"

"Thanks a lot."

She ignored the blond, pulling him into a kiss. His scowl faded as he kissed her back, Riley starting to feel sick.

When they pulled back, Xander gave it a try. "You two can't even get along. Surely you realize it's a spell."

"All I realize is that Spike and I love each other. Now stop repeating yourself when I've already made my decision!" Buffy snapped. "Spike's going to be part of the family, so get over it!"

"I thought we agreed on this, love," Spike said comfortingly. "It's gonna take time, remember?"

She opened her mouth to respond, only to find Riley rushing past her. She gripped his shirt, tugging him back. They tumbled to the floor, his back on her front. Taking advantage of Riley's surprise, she flipped them over.

"Hey," Spike said. "Enough with the suggestive positions, slayer."

"Shut up, Spike," she huffed, soon tying Riley back up extra tight. "I don't see how he could've gotten out. Those ropes were tied by Giles, and we all know he was a boy scout."

"No. We all know he was Ripper, the demon raiser," Xander corrected, seeming proud of himself for knowing something.

"What about all the guys in the room just shut up?" Buffy demanded. Riley opened his mouth, a quick glare silencing him. "Good. Now, Spike and I will be eloping to Vegas tomorrow, so don't go looking for us."

"Um, love," Spike tried. After getting a nod, he continued, "If we're eloping, why'd we tell them?"

He hoped her incredulous expression didn't mean he'd get punched in the face again. "So they don't think we're hurt when we disappear, of course!"

"We're not letting you go anywhere." Xander said this firmly, unaware of the smirk Spike was wearing. After all, Spike knew what happens when you anger the slayer.

Xander fell to the ground, holding a swelling jaw. "What the hell was that for?" In no time he found himself tied up.

Not even seconds later did the door burst open, an angry Anya stalking in. "I'll show them. Who needs to be a vengeance demon to extract vengeance?"

It was then and there that Spike vowed to never make Buffy vengeful towards him... in front of Willow or Anya.

She seemed to calm upon seeing Xander tied up. "Just where you belong, like all other men. Tied up and immobile." Her lips curled up at the corners, the ex-demon disappearing around a corner. In seconds she was back with a kitchen towel in hand. "Open up, Xander."

"What? No!" But his 'no' happened to do just what he had disagreed to, the gag soon being secured in his mouth and tied around the back of his head. Anya stood with hands on hips, proud of her work, before turning around. "I'm going home. Make sure to starve him to death." She walked out without a backwards glance; Spike was determined to keep his vow. But first...

"Buffy. When we get married, I want it to be with your mum's approval. Not in secret."

She bit her lip. "Really?"

"'course, love."

"But... but I want to be married to you now!"

"I know, love," he soothed. "If we go now, they'll find a way to stop us. Better to wait until they've accepted it, yeah?"

* * *

Oz winced as the full moon beat down upon him, taking deep breaths. He was getting better at controlling his wolf every month. _Think of Willow. Stay human for her._

The world faded, his last thought being, _I'll get strong for her, no matter what._

_

* * *

_

_A.N: Hmm... I think this chapter was a bit slow... Reviews?_


	4. Chapter 4

_A.N: Decided to update a bit early in celebration of... dun dun dun... Passing all my finals! Yay! Oh, the joy that courses through me! ((coughs)) eheh. Sorry about that._

_Thank you to **bahjcb**, **jory-brucas101**, **Doni**, and **Berserkerofhell** for reviewing! Makes m' world go round!_

_Disclaimer: Still no owny owny of BtVS._

* * *

Chapter 4: Escape, Escape!

Leaning back against the wall, Buffy wished Spike was with her. It was getting harder to tune out Riley, and she was wondering if killing a human was really so bad. _He's killing my ears, so why can't I kill __**him**__?_ But her friends would never understand, so she continued to leaf through books.She was never going to let Spike patroll for her again. Next time she would go with.

Maybe he had forgotten to pick her up? "I want to go home. Spike might be at our apartment by now."

"What?" Riley demanded, struggling in his chair. "You're living under the same roof as that monster?"

"He is _not_ a monster," Buffy said. How dare he call her fiance such a thing? _Well, maybe he is a monster, but still! _"And we just rented the apartment yesterday."

"Think about it. You haven't even gone on a real date. All you've done is talk about getting married and how much you love each other."

_He has a point,_ Buffy admitted. "We've gone over this. Spell or no spell, love doesn't have to be part of a marriage."

"So you admit it was a spell?"

"...yeah, I guess." Buffy felt the breath rush out of her, the world briefly turning black. She opened her eyes, horror snaking through her form. "I..." She looked at Riley, bound to a chair. Because of her? Yes, she knew it. All he did was care for her, and she ran off with Spike. Spike... _Why does his name make my heart flutter?_

"Buffy?" Willow commented.

Anya spoke up next. "Maybe she just realized all the orgasms she had with Spike, and thinks he won't want more with her? Don't worry, I'm sure he will."

_Oh my god. I slept with Spike how many times? And... and... _Her name kept repeating, everyone in the room seeming to find the need to say it. _Stop, stop, stop...._ Her mental pleas reached no one, the voices only insisting. _Stop, please stop... _"Stop!" With that one scream, she turned and bolted. She had to get away. She had to figure out how to deal when she saw Spike again.

With a horrible realization, she sped up her pace. _I feel the same about Spike as I did under the spell._

* * *

Riley smirked as he entered the initiative. He had gotten Xander to untie him, and now Riley had a goal. He stepped before professor Walsh, replacing his smirk with an expression of utmost severity.

"Agent Finn. Where have you been?" A hint of worry was reflected in her voice. Riley knew it was because he had never just ditched her before.

"Buffy Summers kidnapped me and is dating a vampire. She's also a threat to the initiative."

"Buffy Summers?" Walsh repeated. "That girl who slept through my Psych class and drew pictures?"

_Wait, Buffy drew pictures?_ He shook the thought off. He had more important things to think about. "Yes, ma'am."

"How interesting. I guess we'll have to... dispose of our problem. Do you have any of her DNA?"

Riley congratulated himself on his foresight, holding up a hair.

* * *

Buffy stopped in an alley, lungs for once aching for breath, back curved as she placed shaking hands on bent knees. Her eyes burned with tears aching to escape, will barely keeping them at bay. She was the slayer. She could control her tears. She would _not_ cry over a stupid marriage-turned-love spell. Even if her chest felt like someone had stuck their hand in it and was clawing out her insides.

A weird tingling erupted in her stomach, accompanying the more prominent pain. _Am I going to be sick?_ She shook the thought. No, she knew this feeling...

She spun on her heel, blocking a hand with a sword extended from the flesh just in time. She looked up at the weird demon, glaring at it, even as tears refused to disappear from the corners of her eyes. "You picked a bad day, Mr. Demon." Two more walked up behind it. She quickly twisted the head of the first one, ripping off its arm before it fell to the ground. The second ran at her. She sliced through it with the first one's sword arm in one clean sweep, the beast falling to the ground in two pieces. Green goo spilled out onto the ground, coating her shirt. A quick kick and the third was on the ground as well. She slashed off its legs, then arms, cutting and cutting till there was nothing left to cut, the monster nearly a pile of dust and goo.

"Die, die, die..." Her voice cracked, even as she refused to stop the flow of words. She started pounding it with her fists, pale flesh turning a sickly green as some goo stuck to flying fists. Tears streamed down her face, dust gathering into clumps not unlike the goo. "Leave... me... _alone_!" Sobbing, she collapsed to the ground. Knees pulled to her chest, she buried her face in her arms. _I really am alone... _

She cried out as arms wrapped around her, trying to pull away. The arms merely tightened around her. It felt... familiar. She stopped struggling, her misery returning to the forefront of her mind. Shoulders still wracked with sobs, she kept her eyes screwed shut. A finger brushed away some of her tears, the same hand smoothing down her hair. "Spike?" She waited in anticipation as the silence dragged on, nearly breathing her relief when the familiar, comforting voice filled the soundless air.

"I don't know if you want me here, but..." He cupped her cheek, turning her head so their eyes met. "...I wanted to make sure you're alright."

She felt the alleviated sobs returning, burying her face in his shoulder. Her heart ached in her chest. _Even without the spell he's still caring. I'll never be able to hug him like this again... _The mere thought was painful, the hand clawing within her chest twisting once more. "Thank you."

They stayed like that for a moment, silence overtaking them. Buffy rested her head against his chest, the smell of smoke and soap filling her senses.

After what seemed to be ages, Buffy sat up, pulling slightly from his embrace so she could look at him. "It's been a weird month," she managed, voice only coming out as a whisper.

He gave a dry laugh. "That it has, pet." He held her against him, allowing her to rest against him once more.

Her eyes closed despite her will, dry and achy from the tears she had cried. "Spike?"

"Yes, love?"

"Thanks."

* * *

Spike set Buffy down on the bed they had only shared for one night, pulling the blankets up to her chin. She looked so lonely, cheeks stained with tears, shut eyes probably still blood shot from crying. He forced himself to turn around, stopping as he heard a soft voice call out to him.

"Spike," Buffy mumbled, arm somehow sneaking out from under the blanket, held out in a beckoning motion. "Stay."

He figured that he shouldn't, but couldn't find it in him to resist. He settled down beside her, instantly finding her clinging onto him. "If that's what you want."

"It is." She cuddled closer to him, mumbling with her last awake breath, "This is nice."

He heard her breathing evening out, and tried to fall asleep as well. It was a bit difficult, as he was nocturnal. Still, being beside Buffy was enough encouragement. She looked so peaceful in sleep, the stress from the day melting away, the crease in her brow nowhere to be seen. Her strong fists stayed peacefully by her sides, away from his face. Beautiful, strong, intelligent...

_Damn it. I love the stupid bint, after all._

* * *

_Buffy looked around. She was in a mansion, music playing. Smooth, lovely, enticing. Oblivious to her actions, she walked down hallways, through corridors. The music got louder and louder, senses overtaken by just the sound. Slowly, slowly, she got closer. Sight came back as she found the source of the music. A little girl, a younger Buffy, held an open music box. She reached out to touch it, to feel the mystical sound..._

* * *

Riley eyed the powder that was once a monster, some blown away by wind. Two other monsters were also dead._ How did Buffy kill all of them? _The thought was bitter, annoyed. A hand gripped his wrist, words flowing through the air.

"Sounds well spoken,

Let such an ability be broken,

Hands create warning,

Now only do necessity."

He tried to yell at the intruder, but found his voice gone. He glared at the girl, undoubtedly Willow.

"Hey, Riley," she greeted. "Ready to go to China?"

He tried to scream to passersby, tried to wave his hands in warning, both actions failing him. And since when was Willow so strong?

* * *

Riley was pushed out of the airport by small, insistent witch hands. In fact, he was shoved until he could no longer see the airport. He turned on his heel the second the pressure let up. "Willow, you're so-." He looked around. She had disappeared.

* * *

_A.N: Anyone able to guess what episode Buffy's dream is supposed to be suggesting? You'll understand instantly when I post the next chapter, if you can't figure it out now. :P Reviews?_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A.N:** Thank you to **Doni** and **bahjcb** for reviewing! Congrats to **bahjcb** for guessing the Buffy episode! Yep, Hush!_

_**Disclaimer:** Emma doesn't own BtVS. Her keyboard's acting funky, though..._

_I hope this chapter is okay. :P_

**_Chapter 5: Sweet Silence_**

_Can't even shout, can't even cry_

_The Gentlemen are coming by._

_Looking in windows, knocking on doors,_

_They need to take seven and they might take yours._

_Can't call to Mom, can't say a word,_

_You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard..._

The mansion shook, an earthquake taking over the world. The little girl holding the box seemed oblivious, repeating the same verse over and over. Cracks appeared in the ground-

Buffy blinked awake, looking into beautiful blue eyes. "Spike?" she said, though it came out more as a breath, no distinguishable sounds to show that it was the vampire's name. Horror shot through her form. _I've become mute!_ She anxiously looked into Spike's eyes, mock-zipping her lips and making the gesture of throwing away the key. He placed his hands around his throat, and she got the message. He couldn't speak either. She got to her feet. She had to find Giles. She had to _fix_ this!

Quickly, she picked up the phone, dialing the number. The ringing stopped, and she started to babble-. She glared at Spike, who was silently dying of laughter. She slapped him, the sound loud and clear in the silence of the room. His angered words went unheard, and it was her turn to snicker. She was sure he had mouthed, "Bloody hell, slayer!" though perhaps she was just seeing what she expected.

Ignoring Spike's attempts to get her attention, she threw on fresh clothes. Tying her sneakers, she ran from the house. She had to see Giles, _now_.

Memories of the spell came surging through her shock of the situation, but she couldn't seem to get them to sink in. Not when she was mute, horrified expressions on all she passed. She was still trying to adjust after the spell wore off, but at the moment she had bigger things to think about. Still, her mind made room for a couple of last silent thoughts.

_How am I going to deal with my friends? _A smirk came to her face, despite the situation. _Silently, of course._

xxx

Spike stared at the door. _Why'd she run out? _At least he knew it wasn't something he said. Sighing, slightly relieved that he could, at the very least, hear that, he dug through his dresser drawers. No point in searching for her in nothing but his boxers.

xxx

Buffy looked around as she walked, the usually chatty town loud with silent sounds. The splash of water, the clicking of heels on sidewalk. The flapping of bird wings, the erratic breaths of the crying. The quiet thud of footsteps rapidly approaching, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up-

She spun around, fist in the air and poised to attack. Anya stood before her, looking ready to say one of her blunt comments. She must have been silenced as well, because looking ready was all she did, no words escaping. Buffy mentally snickered. Anya, unable to say her random comments. That was a plus. Buffy continued on her way, not surprised when Anya joined her on the walk to Giles. At least Buffy figured that that's where Anya was going. _Nah, I know she's going there. Where else is there __**to **__go?_

Buffy felt a scowl come to her face when the ex demon gripped her arm. If Anya noticed, she didn't show it, instead pointing. What was so important? Curious, Buffy followed the invisible line created by Anya's finger. She saw a man selling white boards and markers. Oh, this was perfect! She grabbed Anya's hand, guiding her towards the boy with white boards and sharpies. Ten dollars each was normally out of the question, but this was communication they were talking about. Handing him twenty dollars, he gave both her and Anya a white board and marker.

It was only five minutes later when Anya tightened her hold on Buffy's hand. The slayer raised a brow at the ex-demon, who merely held up her white board with her free hand. In shaky writing, as they had been walking, it read, "_Did Spike give you lots of orgasms? If he didn't, I'm practicing vengeance again._"

Her face felt hot. Buffy didn't want to answer, wanted to flat out ignore the other girl, but knew that it wouldn't end well. So she settled for writing, "_Anya, that's personal_."

Anya reached down to write something else. Buffy quickly stole the sharpy, smirking triumphantly. _Take that, Anya! No embarrassing Buffy if you can't write with anything!_ A hand snapped out, grabbing Buffy's marker before she could react. No, they couldn't switch markers! Anya's was tainted with her weird words. As a peace treaty, she held out Anya's marker, switching for her own.

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief as she reached Giles' door. She felt Anya jump beside her, the sound of her knocking akin to a bowling alley, many balls rolling down aisles and crashing into pins. The door opened, Giles looking out at them. His usual, "Ah, Buffy. Come in," was replaced with a slight nod of greeting. Already Xander and Willow were there. Buffy silently wondered if Spike was going to show up. Perhaps she shouldn't have just ran out on him. She pushed that thought away. He could handle himself.

Buffy pondered Xander's solemn face. He must have seen her searching eyes, because he handed her a newspaper she had had yet to notice. She peeked down at it, raising a brow at the picture of a boy who looked a bit familiar. She looked at the title for more of a clue, not in the mood to read it. _Boy Has Heart Cut Out_. Oh. She skimmed through the article. It had nothing useful. Only that it was done with a knife, and there must have been more than one attacker. It was done in a dorm room only a few doors down from where her old one had been. _Could've been me_. But wouldn't that be better? She at least would have a chance against who or whatever did this.

Buffy handed the newspaper to Anya. Her eyes moved rapidly in her head, as she was clearly reading in haste. Looking up, her eyes narrowed at Xander. She reached for her white board, writing, "_You gave it to her first?"_ Xander opened his mouth to respond, no sound coming out. Buffy ignored their silent quarrelling. It was a nice change from the ear-splitting fights they usually had.

Buffy turned her attention to Giles, though it took a bit to get his attention. Taking off her white board, Buffy wrote, "_Giles. What's going on?_"

He opened his mouth to speak, and Buffy felt sympathy for him. She had done the same thing multiple times today, as she was sure the majority of the town had. She offered him the white board. Giles took it with a look of gratitude. "_I have an idea. Let's meet in a classroom at your school building._" Buffy didn't pay much attention after he left the room, thus jumping when she heard a door slam shut. Well, she figured, it probably wasn't _really _slammed shut. A pin drop would be loud in this silence. She raised a brow at the folder he carried but didn't comment. Mostly because she didn't feel like writing again.

They followed him to the car in a line, reminding Buffy of ducks for some reason. She climbed into the front. Buffy stared with wide eyes as strange, floating bald men came through the city. Freaky smiles stretched across chalky faces. Xander and Anya stopped their fight, escaping into the safety of the back seat. Willow seemed a bit freaked, but the most calm of them all. Buffy figured it had something to do with her being a demon now. Still, Willow _was_ more wide eyed than usual.

A bald man locked eyes with her. Buffy felt as if her entire form had gone cold, freezing her there. He broke the contact, the world rushing back to her.

xxx

Buffy sat in a desk, Anya on one side and Willow on the other. Xander sat beside Anya, eyeing the projector with curious eyes. Buffy looked up, raising a brow at her watcher. Giles had his hands on his waist, chest puffed out proudly.

She pointed to the words on the projector screen. Giles followed her gaze, and must've noticed that the words looked backwards. He turned red, flipping the transparent sheet over. He looked a bit peeved, even as he used a ruler to show which line he was 'speaking'.

"_They are called the Gentlemen." _A picture of a bald man was shown, merely a stick drawing. A line was about an inch below him to show that he was floating. Buffy raised her hand, quickly scribbling on a paper in big letters, "_How do you know_?"

He held up a sketch with the negative space filled in, of the Gentlemen, pointing to the next line on the transparent sheet. "_Olivia drew this last night. I did research_."

"Oh," Buffy mouthed.

Giles changed the slide. "_The Gentlemen need to gather seven hearts." _Pictures of pink and red hearts were placed around the sentence. Buffy wondered if anyone else noticed Xander's silent snickering. Perhaps they were just ignoring it. "_And there is only one way to kill them_."

Buffy shot her hand in the hair, wriggling her fingers to get Giles' attention. Finally, a class where she knew the answers. He nodded, and she commenced to mock-stake the desk. At Xander's raised brow, and Anya's approving glance, it only took her a moment to realize what was wrong. She quickly picked up her pencil, repeating the action with heated features. Silent "Oh"'s were seen throughout the room. Buffy glared at the people now dubbed perverts in her book.

But Giles shook his head, changing the slide. _"Only a real human scream can kill them."_

Willow raised her hand. Buffy had to crane her head to read the paper. "_So my scream wouldn't work?"_

Giles underlined _human_. Willow raised her hand again, writing, _"What about a CD?"_

He underlined real. Willow sighed, getting up and leaving the room. Buffy looked after her worriedly. _She can take care of herself, as a vengeance demon, right?_

Giles changed the slide once more. "_In the Fairy tale, the princess screamed and saved everyone."_

Buffy nodded firmly, writing, _"Going patrolling. Gathering info. Etc."_ She got to her feet, making her way around the desks. She had to stop this. Still, what were they planning on _doing_ with seven hearts? She figured it best to stop them before they took care of her question.

xxx

Spike relaxed against the seat, drinking a mug of blood. He didn't quite know why Giles still kept blood, but wasn't about to complain. _Bloke should learn to lock his door, too_. The flavor was gross and bitter, nothing like human blood. Maybe he could dig the chip out of his brain himself...? No, he'd turn himself into a vegetable.

He raised a brow when Anya sat beside him, clearly miffed. She leaned against the arm of the chair, and was out in seconds. Shrugging it off, he set down his mug. At least he wasn't tied down this time.

He yelped, mutely, as a pain burst out across his face. It took him a second to realize it was Xander. It took him a second longer to realize why. _Sodding ponce. Thinks I killed the ex-demon. _He tried to block the blows. It was quite pathetic, since he couldn't even fight back. It abruptly stopped, and he was suddenly thankful to said ex-demon. She had gotten Xander to see her, quite alive. In moments Xander was kissing Anya, fiercely, clearly relieved. She grinned brightly when he pulled away, making a motion with her hands that Spike didn't need to see to understand.

Spike raised a brow at Giles, brushing past him on his way out. _Guess I should find Buffy. _He felt a tap on his shoulder, Anya looking up at him. She pointed to herself, then him, and then the door. '_I want to come with you_,' is what he read from her actions. He made an X with his fingers. When she scowled, he quickly clarified himself by pointing to Xander. Realization seemed to cross her face. He wasn't good at lip reading, but could figure out that she was mouthing, "Later_."_

xxx

Buffy looked around. It was hard to save people when they couldn't scream, and their attackers made no sound at all. Not even the crunching of boots on leaves. _Stupid floating, bald, smiling men and their knives. _She blinked. Somehow, that sentence seemed wrong... Maybe she was spending too much time with Spike.

She quickly ducked behind a tree, watching as five Gentlemen floated down the street, one of said five floating before the rest, clearly leading them. Silently, silently, she followed after them. They appeared to be oblivious to her presence.

xxx

Spike followed a lone Gentlemen, Anya by his side. They really needed to get some implants or something, because their baldness, matched with that creepy smile, was doing them no good. _That's __pro'lly just natures warning to the rest of us, _he figured.

In no time they were before a Watch Tower. He spotted Buffy, grabbing Anya before she could run in. She understood the silent message. They were waiting for an opening.

xxx

Buffy punched one of the Gentlemen, the creep merely getting back up, without a scratch, after hitting the ground. The room was circular with a few tables, crowded with Gentlemen. She spotted five jars out of seven filled with hearts, and managed to smash two against the wall, crushing the hearts under a heeled boot.

Three Gentlemen leapt at her. She kicked a foot into two of their faces. They merely came forward, closing in on her. Eyes caught sight of a box, so very familiar. _The box from my dream. _Her arms were grabbed, each by a separate Gentlemen, muscles achingly tensed as she tried to break free. One approached her, holding a knife in its left hand. She opened her mouth wide, vocal chords failing her. Panic ripped through her. She writhed and struggled against her bonds, hoping to somehow dislodge herself from white hands. _Someone, help me!_

The knife-holding Gentleman was suddenly yanked back, both creeps holding her punched hard enough to release her. "Spike," she mouthed, chest still heaving from denial of a fearful scream. She reached for the box, four hands belonging to two Gentlemen grasping her once more. More gentlemen filed into the room, filling, invading, knives appearing once more. In a moment of insanity, Buffy wondered if Spike's long-dead heart would be of any use. She looked into his eyes, panic filling her. He must have seen it, his struggles renewed. Their attempts were in vain, the knives slowly, slowly inching closer. She silently wished they would just finish with it...

A loud, piercing scream filled the room. The Gentlemen lost their hold, clapping hands over their ears. Buffy watched with sick fascination as their heads promptly exploded, coating clean walls.

Unknown tension left her form, nearly causing her to collapse. Spike wrapped his arms around her, keeping her up. She turned her head so she was looking at Anya, who had smashed the box. "You... how'd you know?" Her words seemed a thousand times louder after so long without them.

"How'd I know what?" she asked, voice distracted as she continued to destroy the box.

"That the box was holding our voices."

She finally looked up, eyebrows furrowed. "What? You mean _I_ saved everyone?" At Buffy's nod, she continued, "I just smashed this box because it had a creepy rabbit on it. It wouldn't break, so I screamed, figuring it would help me destroy it. You know, like how they yell when shooting a gun in the movies?"

"They should've known better than putting rabbits on their box," Buffy joked in an attempt to lighten the mood; to check if her voice was still there. "It's nice being able to speak."

"About that," Spike said, voice downcast.

"What?" she asked, unsettled. Was he talking about rabbits, or it being nice to speak? No, he was talking about something else completely. Something that had him averting his eyes and refusing to keep her gaze.

"Just figured, now with the whole spell gone, you might want me gone. An' there's no need to keep me here just for pity, so-."

Strength renewed, she pulled from his grasp, turning sharply to face him. "Spike."

"...yeah, love?"

"Shut up." He opened his mouth, probably to disagree. She quickly pressed her lips to his, effectively shutting him up.

xxx

Willow teleported yet again. She held up a picture, asking in the universal tongue, "Have you seen him?"

"I have," said the man, in a foreign language. Willow guessed she could understand everyone so she could carry out vengeance for all people.

"Where?"

"Willow?"

She spun around. "Oz?"

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

_A.N: Thank you to **bahjcb**, **Doni**, and **lil sakura haruno**. Sorry for the wait. I went on vacation for about a week. I was going to bring my thumb drive, with my chapters on it, but forgot it at home... yeah..._

_Disclaimer: I lay no claims on BtVS. Why? Because I have no claims on BtVS_

_

* * *

  
_

_Chapter 6: Walsh's Creation_

"So how long have you been here?" Willow leaned her head against Oz's shoulder, taking in the green, grass-covered hills. The smell of uncut, dew covered grass filled the air.

"About a month, give or take. The monks here gave me some herbs..." He paused, holding up his hand to reveal a rosary tied onto it. "...and other things to help me control the wolf."

"How's it working for you?"

He looked up at the sky, and she followed his gaze. The moon was nearly full. "You... you've mastered it?"

"Not yet," he said, turning so he could look her in the eyes. He took her hands in his. "I still change on the night of the full moon. I need about another month to practice self control."

She pressed her forehead to his, locking gazes. "So you'll come home in a month?"

"Yeah. But, Willow, do I sense something different about you?"

"Different?" she repeated. _Oh yeah. _"I'm a vengeance demon now."

"A vengeance demon?" he said, his turn to do the repeating. "You're not here to extract vengeance on me, are you?"

"Of course not, silly," she said, giggling despite herself. "Unless you take longer than a month," she mock-threatened.

He laughed, but it seemed a bit forced. "I'll make sure not to take any longer."

* * *

Xander listened to his girlfriend retell the story of how she'd saved the day, yet again. It was starting to give him a headache, but he kept that fact to himself. He was proud of her.

"And I was just walking in there, right? Buffy and Spike were clearly goners, and it's not like I could fight the Gentlemen off, so I went searching for something valuable to take with me. And then this creepy rabbit face smiles up at me, all 2D and _evil_." She lifted her hands in the air, miming fangs as she spoke the word evil.

"So of course I had to destroy it. I mean, it was creepy. I got this weird rock thing that was nearby and started to smash the rabbit face. I tried punching it, but it was too strong, and my fist got all achy. I screamed, because it makes guns shoot in the movies, and put more effort into it. It wasn't long before I could actually _hear_ my screams, and the rabbit was starting to become little smushed up pieces, but it was still smiling, so I continued to grind the happy face, when Buffy told me that I had saved them."

"Let me be clear on this," said Giles. "Anya saved everyone?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Because I know who the real enemy is."

"Good job, Ahn," Xander praised. He was waiting patiently to call attention to something majorly bothering him. He knew it would mean a lot to Anya if he complimented her first.

"And I brought stuff back for the shop," she continued, pulling a few items out of her pockets. Xander grimaced. Was that one of the Gentlemen's hands? Ew, was that an _eyeball_? He quickly looked away before he could throw up.

Now for the sake of distracting himself on top of his obvious purpose, he proclaimed, "Am I the only one disturbed by Buffy and Spike's closeness?"

Everyone looked surprised, and Xander wondered why. They hadn't noticed that Buffy was curled up to Spike, one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders? Anya actually looked nonplussed.

"The spell has ended, yes?" Giles inquired.

"Yep," Buffy agreed. "A couple of days ago, thanks to a certain soldier boy learning Chinese."

"'M Proud of you, slayer." Spike seemed to mean it, too, placing a chaste kiss to her temple.

"Are you quite sure?" Giles now appeared unsure and dubious.

"Trust me, they are."

Xander spun around, sure that the other occupants of the room had as well. "Willow! Where've you been?"

"I found Oz," she commented offhandedly. "But believe me. I know when one of my spells has ended."

"Then..." Xander murmured, "what kind of relationship are they in, if they're still cuddling?"

"And kissing," Anya added in. "I think they're orgasm buddies."

"Anya!" Buffy exclaimed. Xander ignored the accusatory glare cast at him when he failed to scold his girlfriend. "Spike and I are _not_ orgasm buddies. We're dating."

"That's too bad," Anya said, and Xander wondered if she was taking his silence as approval. "I'm sure he'd be a great orgasm buddy. But you would know, so I guess he's not good at pleasing women."

"Hey!" Spike was clearly miffed. _Could anyone blame him?_ Xander thought. That was a terrible insult. Still, it was hilarious. It's not like he liked Spike any. Maybe he'd _congratulate_ Anya later. "I'm a bloody sex god! Buffy, tell them!"

Buffy elbowed the vampire in the ribs, hard enough to make him wince. "I refuse to talk about this."

"Buffy," Willow said, stopping another fight from beginning. "Weren't there a few monsters who attacked you the other day, after Riley escaped?"

"Oh, yeah," she said, eyes widening. "I forgot. I think it has something to do with those masked men." She sat up straighter. "And I know there's something about a room 314. I think I had a dream about it a while back. We need to figure out what's there."

"What're you thinking, slayer?"

"I'm thinking we find one of those soldier boys and get him to lead us to base."

* * *

Buffy searched through the forest, Spike at her side. It had taken a few well-placed slayer glares, but she had convinced the Scoobys that Spike could be trusted. She was about to take a step forward when Spike placed a hand on her shoulder, a gentle gesture to stop.

"Spike?"

"Shh." He pointed, revealing a masked man slinking through the trees. Buffy nodded, launching herself at the man and tackling him to the ground. In one quick motion, she had off his mask and communicating device, throwing them a few yards away. She flipped the man onto his back. He looked familiar. She distinctly remembered Riley calling this man Graham, his head piece questioning, "Agent Miller?"

"Take me to your base," she ordered.

"Buffy?" He squinted, obviously trying to see her through the darkness. "What're you doing?"

She pulled him to his feet by the collar of his shirt, nearly choking him. "Take me to your base."

"What for?"

"Just _do_ it." Was she going to have to switch to threats now? When he stayed silent, she added, "I already know it's underground. I just want to find out what's in room 314."

"We don't have a room 314."

"Listen, threatening is really not my style-" She glared at Spike when he laughed, displaying his disagreement with her statement. "-so just tell me."

"...alright, but you won't get far with our security."

In moments Buffy was led before the college. Graham pointed to a patch of grass.

"You're not lying?" she asked.

"This leads to an air vent. There's no way I could lead you to the entrance." He looked around, seeming anxious. "I'm getting out of here. I don't need to be seen as a traitor."

Buffy punched him in the face, knocking him out. "No traitor here." She pulled out two outfits from her backpack, handing one to Spike. They were both long white coats, which could easily pass as that of a scientist. Actually, they were paint coats, a few stains having to have been bleached out. They were still semi-visible, but it was the best they could get on such short notice. _Why would anyone make something you paint in white? Why not black?_

She felt around the ground, feeling for ridges, anything, among the muddy grass. She grinned as she hooked her finger under something, yanking up. In moments she had the thing opened, climbing in with Spike behind her.

"Don't like the coat, luv," he complained, closing the door-thing after him. "The smell of paint's making me nauseous."

"Alright, _Hostile 17_," she mocked. "Take it off." She smiled to herself, knowing that he was silently pouting behind her.

After five minutes of blind crawling, she said, "So, you've been here before. When do we get out?"

"No clue. Always been one for maps."

She stopped as she felt the ground below her. It was different, as if it had long vent-holes through it. "Scoot back a bit," she ordered, following her own advice. She struggled for a moment before getting the vent open. Peeking down, she noted it as the containment cells. "Come on."

She jumped down, moving out of the way so Spike could follow after. It was a bit of a jump, the air vent left open. The banging of demons followed by cries as electricity zapped them met Buffy's eyes, and she felt grateful that her job just meant killing. No evil experimenting for Buffy.

Buffy made her way to the door, searching it. "There's no handle. _Why_ is there no handle?"

"Keep us baddies from escaping, I guess."

"You're locked in containment cells. How could you possibly escape?" A sudden creaking alerted her to the door opening inwards. In a quick motion, she got out of the way before she could be smacked in the face.. Two scientists walked in, abruptly stopping their conversation.

"Do... I know you?" asked the first scientist.

"Not really," Buffy replied. "My partner and I are just learning the map of the place. Right, William?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely," Spike agreed, the both of them quickly slipping out the door. The scientists looked confused but not alarmed.

They made their way through a few halls before coming to the main room. A few soldiers walked by.

She tried to be nonchalant about checking the surroundings when Spike suddenly stiffened. "Quick, slayer. We've gotta make out."

Why was she worried again? "Have you been taking notes from Xander? Because two scientists just randomly kissing will _not_ help us blend in."

"...I saw it on the telly," he admitted.

She rolled her eyes. "We have a mission, remember?" Buffy gazed at the big, open area below, trucks dropping things and people off. A few scientists were studying demons that Buffy hoped were long dead.

Buffy leaned over the railing to get a better look at the people. One of them looked familiar...

"Buffy. I found the room."

She spun around, walking up to the door Spike was gazing through. Room 314 was just on the other side, so very close. "Alright. We just wait for someone to enter." They stepped away from the door. "Mock conversation," Buffy added.

"Alright... So, what'd you think of that one beastie? Bloody ugly, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. Pretty creepy, too. How can a creature have hands like that?"

They tried to keep up their conversation as professor Walsh entered through the door, Spike instantly catching it before it could close all the way. They waited until Professor Walsh had entered the second door before entering the first, Spike catching the second as well. _How did he do that?_ She decided against asking. His ego was big enough.

"Should we go in?" Buffy whispered, wishing this door had a window as well.

"Why not?"

A scream sounded, and they instantly rushed into the room. On the floor, bleeding profusely, lay Professor Walsh. Buffy looked up into the smiling face of what could only be described as Frankenstein's creation. Half of his face human flesh, some of his body human, the majority was a mix of demons. He had the sword-like arm that the monsters who had attacked Buffy had had.

"Who are you?" he asked, apparently unfazed by the two strangers.

"Buffy," she said, punching him while she still had the element of surprise. He caught her fist, twisting her arm to almost breaking point. Spike made to punch him, not even making the monster wince. He did let go of Buffy, though, to block the attack with his non-sword arm.

"I am Adam," he said. "You are the slayer, am I right?"

"Yeah. And now I'm gonna slay you." She went to attack him again, this time using all of her weight. He punched her, quick and hard in the head. She smacked into the wall, eyes falling shut.

"Damn it," Spike cursed, glaring at the creature. He knew better than to fight someone too strong for Buffy, instead opting for scooping the girl into his arms. He ran from the room, managing to get into the elevator when it went up again. Finally in the elevator, alone, he ran over his escape. No one had come after him. _Pro'lly too bloody worried 'bout the bint dead on the floor._

* * *

Buffy groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Agh. It feels like someone's hammering my head."

"Buffy? Love, are you awake?"

She blinked, eyes finally clearing. "Spike? What happened?"

"Adam knocked you out. I got us outta there."

She nodded, allowing him to help her sit up. "Thanks. He's scary strong."

"That he is," Spike agreed.

She took in the full room. The entire Scooby gang (minus Oz, who had been gone for a while) were sitting around her. "Has Spike told you about room 314 yet?"

* * *

Running, fields, flowers... Buffy, the Mayor, a picnic... stabbing, blood, death... Buffy, blood, death...

Eyes flew open, head aching, brown orbs taking in a white hospital room. Pale hands pulled plugs from even paler skin, feet meeting cold, tiled floor.

* * *

_A.N: Hey. Tell me what you thought in a review. I'm not gonna update again until I get four reviews. Seriously, a lot of people have me on story alert, so couldn't a few of you just drop in a review? Anyways, thanks for reading!  
_


	7. Chapter 7

_A.N: Thank you to **Gethernia**, , **TheOneWithTooManyShoes**,** lil sakura haruno**, **HopeCoppice**, **Mollzy**, **shadow**, and **bahjcb** for reviewing! Here's the chapter, like I promised._

_Also, thank you for awesome constructive criticism. I truly appreciate it. As for whether I'll be able to follow through with it... I have my fingers crossed and've tried, but no promises._

_Disclaimer: Is this necessary anymore? If you somehow missed the first six disclaimers, I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm addicted to the soundtrack now, though. Somebody smack me._

* * *

_Chapter 7: Wake up, Sunnydale!_

Faith walked down the streets of Sunnydale, looking around. Darkness surrounded the city, street lamps both lighting the streets and darkening the sky, hiding stars from view. Only the pale sliver of a moon could be made out.

She looked around. Buffy had to live in the same house, right? She entered a store, picking up a Jonathon action figure. _Who the hell is he?_ she pondered. _Must be famous to be on every picture, and part of every merchandise product... _

Shrugging it off, she decided that shopping could wait until later. When she found a store that sold something other than this Jonathan's face.

Faith pondered stealing a CD player to block out all the chatter about Jonathan, but decided any CD she stole would be sung by said guy... What had happened since she left?

* * *

"I see them!" Buffy exclaimed. Spike nudged her, urging her to be silent. "Sorry," she whispered. Why couldn't she ever do anything right? She looked through the crypt door, watching as vampires feasted on a poor, miserable human. "There's no way I can beat all of them."

"Bloody hell." Spike ran a hand through gelled-back hair. "Gotta get help after all."

* * *

"So, you can help us?"

Willow sighed, leaning back against a wall. Buffy may be the slayer, but she was really weak. Now, Jonathan, on the other hand...

"Of course," Jonathan agreed. "Let's go."

* * *

Jonathan led them through the crypt door, instantly dusting two vampires. The remaining vamps stared with wide eyes up at the demigod, trying to escape. Buffy barely missed one, Jonathan dusting it before it could escape. The last one was dusted by Xander, mostly out of luck.

Spike glared heatedly when Buffy complimented Jonathan.

"You were so amazing. I don't know what I'd do without your help and guidance."

"You nearly dusted that last one."

_Acting all humble... He's bloody fishing for compliments._

"No, you really _were _amazing! You killed the majority of them!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Buffy?"

She shushed him. "Can't you see I'm talking to Jonathan?"

Teeth clenched, he stomped away from the crypt. No calling after him, no begging for him to stay... _Bloody, sodding Jonathan. Why can't I be as cool as him?_

* * *

Spike searched through the old initiative caves. Surely he was here somewhere...?

"Who are you? You're not allowed in here."

Spike raised a brow at the weak vampire. "Spike, William the Bloody. Slayer of slayers. Take your pick."

"O-oh." The vampire seemed more intimidated now. "Adam doesn't take well to guests."

"What about guests close to the slayer?"

Eyes buzzed nervously. "Follow me."

Spike was led through a few corridors before spotting the man from the other day, who had killed the professor. _And knocked out Buffy_. He bit back his rage. "Adam, right?"

"You," the man commented, almost lazily. "What are you here for? I can feel that it's not revenge you seek."

"I'm here with an offer. You take this wonderful chip from my head, I help you defeat the slayer."

"Hostile 17," Adam identified. "How would you help defeat the slayer, when you can't harm her? And what makes you think I need your help?"

"The slayer's got friends. Before this bloody chip, they were what kept me from killing her." He allowed a smirk to flit across his face. "I can separate them."

"You can, can you?"

"Bloody right, I can." Spike reclined on the beaten-up couch. "They're already a bit separated. Just a bit of a push, and no more chipper pals for the slayer."

"And you would do this why?"

Spike figured telling Adam that he was jealous of Jonathan was a poor excuse. Everyone knew Jonathan was just plain awesome. "I'm a demon, remember? Vampire wants vampire slayer dead?" When Adam didn't look convinced, he added, "And I want to be able to kill again. Feed straight from the source."

"...alright. But if you fail me, it'll be more than the chip that you lose." Adam handed Spike a thumb drive. "Give this to one of her friends, perhaps a computer genius."

* * *

Faith smirked as she saw Buffy fighting a vampire in the graveyard, all alone. Her smirk faltered when Buffy was knocked to her back, clearly having trouble with the fledgling. Rolling her eyes, Faith made her way over and staked the thing. "You're really pathetic now."

"Faith!" She got to her feet, looking around nervously. "What're you doing here? I thought Jonathan put you in a coma!"

"...Jonathan?" Something was definitely wrong with this town's mental health. Maybe it was something in the water. "Since when do you blame others? Thought you were all for doing the right thing." Buffy screamed, blocking her face when Faith pulled out a stake. _Is this a joke? _ She pushed Buffy to the ground. "You're making this too easy, B. Fight back."

"I... I can't," Buffy sobbed. "Why're you going after me?"

Faith was about to plunge the stake through Buffy's heart, a sudden yank to her hair having her falling backwards. A man who fit the look of the posters all over town helped Buffy to her feet, threateningly aiming a cross bow at Faith's heart.

_Right. I'll come back when the town gains their sanity back._ She bolted, only resting once she was within an alley. A few big men approached her. Good. She needed to hurt something.

"All alone, little girl?"

"Yeah." She could see yellow teeth as their mouths pulled into smiles. She quickly punched one in the face, knocking him out. She smashed the last two's heads together, instantly rendering them unconscious. Boring and easy.

A demon stepped out of the dark, holding up a package. "Faith?"

"How do you know my name?" she demanded. Had that Jonathan guy sent a demon after her?

"This is from the mayor."

She accepted the package with careful hands before snapping the creature's neck. _The mayor left me something?_

She left the alley. The poster of Jonathan convinced her to find a DVD player out of town.

* * *

"I did _not_ say his name last night," Buffy argued, glaring up at the blonde vampire.

"Did too. A few times."

"I hear you loud and clear, buddy," said Xander, sympathetically. "Anya moaned his name, too."

"See? Bloody git's stealing our girls. Too awesome for his own good."

"Too handsome," Xander agreed, "and sexy."

"Maybe _you_ said his name," Anya snapped. She quickly shushed the boys when Jonathan came up to the mike. "Shh. He's singing."

* * *

Buffy looked at the newspaper. "Two people killed and left with a strange mark on their forehead."

"Weird," Anya agreed, "But Jonathan says everything's fine, so we probably shouldn't worry."

Buffy sighed, wondering if she should really say this. But it had to be heard. "Don't you guys think it's kinda weird how awesome Jonathan is? I mean, I'm the slayer, but he's better at everything."

Spike scoffed. "He's Jonathan. Of course he's bleeding better at everything."

"I agree," said Xander, seeming annoyed. "He's really cool. Saving us from the master, killing vampires."

"I think Buffy may have a point," Giles argued. "She may not be right very often, but she has a point about him being stronger than the slayer."

"Do you have one of his swimsuit calenders?" Buffy asked.

"No..." At her firm look, Giles dug it out from a pile of paper, flushing brightly. "It was a gift."

She flipped through it, examining all the pictures with skin showing. She finally found the mark to be on his back. "See? The same symbol as the people in the newspaper."

"What're you talking about?"

Everyone jumped, Buffy guiltily averting her eyes. _Caught_.

"Nothing! Just how many vamps we're going to dust tonight." Had Xander just covered for_ her, _Buffy? That was a first. Normally he was on Jonathan's side.

* * *

Buffy had managed to dust her second vampire that week, feeling pride surge through her form. She turned to tell Spike, but he was nowhere to be seen. Right, he wasn't on patrol with her tonight. She'd tell Jonathan instead.

A girl ran towards Buffy and Jonathan, the ones patrolling that night, collapsing and breathing deeply. "Monster... big... attacked..."

Buffy frowned. "This keeps happening..."

Jonathan seemed nervous. _The_ Jonathan seemed nervous. Was the world going to fall apart? Surely Jonathan, of all people, could stop it! "Come with me, Buffy. There's a monster I need your help defeating."

"R-Really?" she stuttered. She felt so honored. He was asking _her,_ Buffy Summers, to help him defeat a monster.

* * *

Buffy gave the monster one last slash, watching as it faded into nothingness, the last shred of Jonathan-loving fading.

* * *

Spike blinked, his continuous thoughts of how wonderful Jonathan was ending. He grit his teeth. How could he love a human that much? _A normal, weak human, _he amended, picturing his beautiful slayer. _Snap out of it, Spike. The big bad doesn't act like a bloody nancy boy._

He entered Xander's basement. "You guys learn that Jonathan's not a god, too?"

"Yeah," Xander agreed.

"I realized that Xander's the only one I need," Anya added. "I don't need a threesome with some gimpy human."

Spike raised a brow but didn't comment further. Getting into deep discussions with Anya was like... well, there wasn't anything quite like it. "So, I heard Xander's joining the military?"

Xander sat up a bit straighter. "What?"

"That's like wishing him dead!" Anya exclaimed. "Xander better not be joining the military. People die there."

"Who told you that?"

Spike held up his hands. "Don't kill the messenger, Harris."

Xander relaxed his hands but not his shoulders. "Who said that?"

"I was just listening in on Buffy and Willow. Willow was against it, mind you. All about how necessary you are. Buffy clearly disagreed."

Xander's fists were clenched once more. "Just like her, thinking I'm unnecessary."

* * *

Spike was actually surprised by how easy it was to separate the friends. He decided to focus on Willow next. She was typing away on a computer, doing some important thing or another.

"Hey. I snuck this from the initiative caves," he said, handing it to Willow.

Eyes widened. "Wow, thanks! This could be useful!" She instantly connected it to the computer. _A thumb drive, _Spike finally identified.

"Yeah, but don't know if Buffy will accept anything you get off of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she said... never mind."

"No, wait! What did she say?"

Spike hid his smirk. "Just that you're not much help. I bloody well defended you. Got punched, though."

Willow was visibly seething. "She's lucky I stick to getting vengeance on guys."

* * *

Buffy sighed as half human, half demon people started to roam the town. If only she had a hint to Adam's plan. She quickly killed a few of the beasts, one being stabbed from an external source. She looked around, spotting a familiar face. "Faith," she grit out.

* * *

"So you separated her from her friends," Adam stated.

"Yeah."

"And you gave the thumb drive to one of said friends."

"Exactly."

"So her friend won't be able to tell her what's on the thumb drive." This one was a declaration.

"Ex-." Spike broke off. "Buggar." He quickly struggled for something to save himself from the impending death bound to happen. He'd have to run if he couldn't find anything helpful to say. "Hey, you agreed to the plan. I just followed it through!"

Adam clenched and unclenched a fist. "Just get the slayer where I want her."

* * *

Buffy frowned. "Now is _not_ a good time, Faith."

"I think it's a great time. Tried earlier, but everyone was insane."

Buffy blocked a blow. A monster came up from behind the dark-haired slayer. Faith quickly stabbed it over her shoulder.

"What baddy is trying to cause an apocalypse this time?"

* * *

_A.N: Thoughts, opinions, facts? Reviews? _

_P.S: I couldn't help but inclue Jonathon's popularity in all of this. Faith knows he's not awesome because she was in a coma when Jonathon was setting everything up, brain barely starting to work again._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer**: Totally don't own anything._

* * *

**Chapter 8: **_Swap Me, Switch Me_

Buffy blocked the pointy knife with a stake. "I'm serious, Faith. Your timing is _horrible_." Why was Faith so strong after not using her muscles for eight months? Buffy had been in practice, so shouldn't _she_ be the stronger one?

"Oh, is it?" She spun around, killing another monster mid-swing, facing Buffy once finished and blocking a death blow. "Going for the kill, B?"

"I did it once. Faith, you're a monster. You poisoned Angel and nearly killed him."

"So you managed to save him. Let him drain you, then?"

"Yeah." Buffy winced at the shallow cut Faith gave her. "We really should be fighting Adam, not each other."

"Adam? Such a common name for a monster _creating_ monsters," Faith replied, managing to knock Buffy to the ground. Buffy reached up, locking hands to wrestle Faith off.

Head swimming, world spinning, Buffy was suddenly looking down at herself. "What...?" A pain burst through her face, world fading to black.

xxx

Buffy groaned, reaching up to rub her head. Something cold surrounded her wrists, which failed to oblige to her wishes. She opened her eyes, fear clenching her heart. She was in a car, wrists chained to the bench she sat upon. She looked around, dark hair swishing around her face.

_Dark hair...?_ She freaked, looking down at herself. A leather jacket, leather pants... and a body clearly not her own. _I'm... _"I'm Faith!"

A window separating her from the front of the truck flew open. "Shut up back there. We all know who you are."

"But... but I'm _not_ Faith! I'm Buffy! Buffy Summers!" Her voice came out all wrong, unfamiliar even within her thoughts. _My friends'll be able to tell, right?_

xxx

Spike looked at all the monsters roaming town, jealous of the destruction they were causing. Technically he could smash buildings and scare people too, but that would get him dusted. He paused before a graveyard. Buffy stood in the middle, staring at her hands as if for the first time. Shrugging off the strange occurrence, he approached his slayer. "Hey, Buffy!" Hopefully she wouldn't punch him.

Hazel eyes locked with his. _Where'd that spark go?_ He looked deeper into her eyes, the familiar connection absent. _Huh. Maybe it's just me?_ "Buffy, love. What're you doing out here?"

"Patrolling," she replied, looking around. "A lot of baddies are out."

_Baddies? Big word for half creatures like those... _"That's not fair, slayer. _I'm_ a baddy, not them. Big Bad, remember?"

"...should I stake you?"

"What?" She actually looked serious. "What'd I do this time?" _Maybe she's on to me..._

"Nothing. I'm just distracted, with Adam and all."

"Ah, right. Hey, you should check in with Willow. Might know something."

Buffy raised a brow. "Like what?"

"Found a chip in Adam's caves and gave it to her."

"You found a chip in Adam's caves?" _Drats. I figured she wouldn't think it through. _"And you gave it to Willow, to help us out?"

Okay, what was wrong with his slayer? "Of course I did! What do you think I'd do, smash it into bitty pieces?"

"Are... we dating?"

Definitely something wrong. _Maybe she thinks I'm having second thoughts?_ "Course we are, pet. You think I'd ditch you after everything?"

"...no?" She brushed past him. "I'm going home."

"What, just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that. I'm done with the whole patrolling thing."

He grabbed her shoulder before she could get far. She turned to him, raising a slender brow. "What?"

"Why're you going home to rest? Did something happen?"

"No." She seemed irritated now. "I need a reason to go to my house, the place I live?"

"You do when you don't live there." He placed a hand on her forehead, before quickly dropping it. Cold skin was useless in checking a temperature. She'd feel really warm no matter what. "What about our apartment?" Was that confusion on her face?

"Right. We're together." Spike was taken aback when she grabbed his face, pulling him into a fierce kiss. He returned the kiss, but it somehow felt wrong. He pushed her away from him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "You possessed or something?" _Doesn't everyone kiss differently? Cuz she surely isn't kissing like the Buffy I know._

"Why? I can't kiss people I'm dating? Is that _bad_?" Why was she smirking?

"No. You just feel... different. Like my Buffy's not in there." He got a bad feeling when surprise flashed across her face.

"I see. Accusing me and stuff."She stalked off, clearly intent on getting away from him.

"Oh no. We're going to Giles'." He gripped her hand, tugging her after him. She raised a brow but didn't struggle."

xxx

Faith sat down between the blond guy and Willow. Said blond guy seemed to be completely on to her, creepily enough. _He must be really close to Buffy. It would help if I knew his name._

"Buffy," Xander greeted, voice seeming accusatory. "So, you want me to go off to the army?"

"...what?" There was definitely something wrong with this group. "Why the hell would I want that?" _Unless he's asking for my approval? _"I mean... if you want to, I'm not going to stop you."

Xander threw his hands in the air. "I knew it. I'm completely useless." Faith watched as Xander made to leave the room. A blond girl with short hair managed to stop him, and Faith could've sworn she said something about orgasms.

"Well... I managed to decode the thumb drive. It's helpful. That is, if you _want_ my help."

Right. What would Buffy say? "If you have any valuable information, don't keep it to yourself." She flinched as a dark power surrounded her. "What?"

"...nothing." Willow scowled, clearly irked, before pulling a lap top from a bag. "See? It's a map of the initiative. Everything's blocked off except this thing here, so I think it's where Adam is."

_What's the initiative?_ "Great. So I go there and kill him."

"Great enthusiasm, love, but he's defeated you once."

Now Faith really wished she knew his name. It would make talking to him easier.

"Spike has a point," Xander said, more helpful then he could ever know.

"Right," Faith agreed. "Anyone have a better idea?"

"It's not like we could just join our powers together and defeat him as one super group," Xander said, annoyance tainting his voice.

"Xander, that's a great idea!"

Faith jumped at the high pitch of Willow's voice. Faith noted that her power levels had increased substantially. Buffy's life sure was confusing. "You can do that?"

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "I can put all of our power in you, and you can be a super Buffy and defeat Adam!"

"That's amazing, Willow. When do we do this?"

"Tonight! I just need to gather some ingredients from the magic shop."

"I'll take you, then," Faith offered. Willow may be a witch, but what good was a human against monsters like that? _Apparently a lot_, Faith thought to herself, as a lot of eyes landed on her. "So I can keep them from attacking you when your arms are full." They seemed to accept that. Faith tried to avoid Spike's eyes, since he had admitted to her being unlike Buffy.

xxx

Buffy kept to the alleys. She didn't want the watcher's council to find her. They clearly didn't believe a word she said. And why would they? It would take a while to find her way to Giles from such unfamiliar territory, but she opted to make it within an hour.

She had to. She didn't even want to think of the ways Faith could ruin her life. _Oh god. Spike. She doesn't know about our relationship. He better notice she's not me._

xxx

"C'mon," Willow urged, taking the lead. "I can lead you guys to Adam. That is, if _Buffy's_ okay with it."

"Of course I am," Faith agreed. "Why wouldn't I be?" She frowned. "And who's been telling you all this stuff? Like me not needing you, and Xander going to the military? It's like someone's spreading rumors." She raised a brow when Spike averted his eyes.

"They're just facts," Xander replied, irritation obvious.

_Great. I switch bodies, and get stuck with her friends wanting to get all mad at me._ "Spike. Did _you_ spread these rumors?" She was sure Buffy wouldn't have guessed it so easily, so the surprise that flashed across Spike's face wasn't exactly a shocker.

"Ah, you see..."

"No lies. I know you did it." _I'd sock him, but that's probably really unlike Buffy. I doubt she'd go around beating up her boyfriend._

"Fine," he admitted. "I only gave a push, and you started fighting. So I just helped the anger along, since it would've come up anyways."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Faith demanded. It was getting very tempting to punch him.

"Just, y'know, figured it was the only way to be the Big Bad with this chip in my head."

_Chip? And why does he keep calling himself the Big Bad?_ "Whatever." By the surprise on Buffy's friends' faces, she figured that she had done something wrong. Maybe Buffy _would_ punch him. So she punched him in the gut. _No sense in marring his beautiful face,_ she figured.

"Bloody hell, slayer!"

Apparently she had done the right thing, because Buffy's friends didn't look as confused. "C'mon. We've got a monster to stop."

xxx

Buffy gasped for breath as she finally reached Giles' door, knocking despite her need for oxygen. It flew open, as the Watcher had probably heard the urgency in the pounding. "Faith?"

"Please, Giles, let me in. I swear, I'll explain everything!" She felt relief flood her system as he stepped aside, allowing her to enter. But she knew he was far from convinced. "Where's F- Buffy?"

"Why would I tell you that? And I was told you had died."

"What? No, I'm Buffy! I swear. The girl walking around in my skin was Faith. She switched our bodies."

"And if you were Buffy, you'd allow me to tie you up."

_Damn Giles and his precautions. _"I would, if Faith weren't causing havoc in my body. She didn't do anything to Spike, right?"

"...now that you mention it, Buffy was acting strange around him. Around everyone, actually."

"That's because she's Faith. Please, Giles, you've gotta believe me."

The watcher took out a cloth, wiping his glasses. "Alright. There's a blue print of the initiative on the table. They've gone to stop Adam."

"What?" But Buffy didn't want to waste time with questions, not waiting for her own to be answered. She grabbed the blue print, quickly scanning it. She had to get to Faith before something bad happened.


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I own nada_

* * *

Chapter 9: Who's who?

Buffy pushed herself, running as fast as she could. She was suddenly thankful that Faith hadn't lost any muscle mass while in that coma. She stopped above the hatch she had found the other day with Spike. _Spike. I've gotta get to him before Faith does something really stupid._ This time she continued through the vent, peaking through the holes of the second one she reached. She paused. Faith, Spike, Anya, Xander, and Willow were down there. By the looks of it, Faith was arguing with some army official.

"If you don't let us help, everyone in here is going to die."

_Wow. Is Faith actually helping?_

"I have no reason to listen to little girls."

"_Little girls_!" Faith punched the man in the face. Buffy winced. There went her reputation of not hurting humans. The man fell to the floor, passed out. The soldiers instantly went to attack. Faith managed to knock quite a few down. Buffy had a hard time seeing through the vent, but it looked like more of those monster things were appearing.

_They can handle themselves, for now_. Buffy continued crawling. She was going to find a vent closer to Adam.

xxx

Faith kicked yet another army man, but it wasn't long before they had joined her in fighting Frankenstein's children. She waved to Buffy's friends. "C'mon. We have to get to Adam."

Wordlessly, they followed her to the designated door. She pounded on it, making dents but no holes. She turned to one of the scientists knocked to the ground, passed out. She dug through their outfit, pulling out a card. "Bingo." Turning around, she quickly slid it through the lock, the door unlocking with a ping. "Willow, you lead. I forgot the map of this place."

"Right!" Willow grinned, clearly glad to be important. She led them down twists and turns, finally leading them into a room. Faith ripped a hole in the wall across from the door they entered. According to the blue prints, Adam was down the hall on the other side of said wall. She watched as they boarded up the door, allowing Spike to pass. Was that part of some plan she had been left out of?

xxx

Buffy opened the vent, closing her eyes before jumping. She had finally decided to just take a chance, since she was clearly lost.

She heard a, "Bloody hell!" as she fell on top of someone, the both of them falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. She pushed herself to her feet. "Spike?"

He wiped his bloody lip with the back of his hand, licking it. "Who're you?"

"Ew. I thought I told you, I don't listen to you when you do something that disgusting."

"I know you?" he asked, scrunching his eyes as if to better see.

"Spike, you've gotta listen to me. I'm _Buffy. _The girl you've seen is Faith, a different slayer."

"Another slayer?" He stared at her for a moment, and Buffy wondered how she could possibly convince him.

"Spike, please, you've got to-."

"I believe you, love. Doesn't mean I'm not weirded out, though. Bloody knew something was off with you. Her."

Buffy was taken aback. _He could tell it wasn't me?_ "Not even Giles knew, and I've known him longer."

"Yeah. The fact she didn't seem to know me kinda gave her away."

"Oh-."

"Buffy?"

Buffy spun around, seeing herself. _No, seeing Faith,_ she corrected. _I'll take care of this later, though. _"What's the plan for defeating Adam?"

"We're creating a power circle," Faith informed. "All their power is supposed to collect in me."

"But my body," Buffy said, reading between the lines. "C'mon." She gripped Faith's wrist, the now-blond following her back to her friends.

"What're we doing?"

"Just shut up," Buffy ordered, coming to a stop before her friends. "Guys, stop the chant."

Willow looked up, eyes narrowed as she looked between Buffy and Faith.

"Buffy's secretly plotting with Faith, who's somehow alive?" Xander asked, also looking between the slayers.

"No, you idiot," Buffy exclaimed. "Faith switched bodies with me. You're going to let her join the power circle, and I'm going to go and defeat Adam."

"Buffy did seem a bit off," Anya said.

"There was no kissage between her and Spike," Willow added in, matter-of-factly.

"Less talking, more chanting!" Buffy turned on her heel, making her way back down the hall. She heard her friends start chanting again, this time with one more member.

xxx

Buffy skidded to a halt before the open door. Within sat Adam, having a decent conversation with Spike. _What on earth? _

"You're supposed to take out the chip. That was the agreement," said Spike.

"You agreed to separate her from her friends. _That_ was also in the agreement."

"Well, I got her here, didn't I? Take out the bloody chip, would you?"

_He set us up? _

"Alright. I'll honor our deal." Adam snapped his fingers, a monster reaching for Spike. "Your chip will be removed, with your head."

Buffy slapped a hand over her mouth to hide her gasp. She threw a stake at the monster, hitting it in the heart. It promptly passed out, hands falling from Spike's now-bruised neck. "Buffy!" He was clearly nervous. "It's not what it looks like, love."

"Not what it looks like?" Buffy took the few steps necessary to punch him, knocking him to the ground with the force. "You didn't try and separate me from my friends and get me to Adam alone, so he could kill me, in exchange for having your chip taken out?"

"I wasn't going to let him kill you," Spike argued. "Just wanted the bloody chip out."

"Oh, you _so_ aren't getting out with an excuse like that." Spike had gotten up, so she threateningly pulled back her fist. "Say goodnight, Spike, because you'll be unconscious from the world of pain I'm going to put you through."

"Slayer-." He shoved her, Buffy falling to the ground with a loud crash, nearly breaking her left wrist, taking vials with her.

She opened her mouth to scold Spike, only to have him land on top of her, unconscious. "Spike!" She quickly pushed him against the wall, jumping out of the way of one of Adam's attacks just in time.

Adam laughed, a deep, dorky chuckle. "You care for a vampire, slayer? What a strange girl! Let's rip you open and see how you work!"

"Let's not," Buffy argued, jabbing him with a stake. He laughed once more throwing her against the wall. She winced as her head made a cracking sound. _Not a good sign_. All she knew was that she was better than she could be, no double vision but some stars. She ducked, barely dodging a blow to the head, shoulder getting scratched painfully. _C'mon, team! Finish the spell!_

Adam stepped up to her. "You are weak, girl. I was going to make you the human hero, but now I realize humans are too weak to live on this plain. Even the slayer is too weak to put a scratch on me."

She rolled over to avoid his strike, but her merely followed the movement, slicing down her right arm, the one with the hurt shoulder. How was she supposed to fight?

She gasped, feeling control slip, disappear, reappear. A deep connection filled her, movements both hers and not, voluntary and involuntary. The world throbbed strangely, body no longer hers yet completely under her control. She could feel her friends' presences within her, empowering her, filling her with strength.

"You seem to have gained some strength, girl. But it's not enough to fight me!"

She lifted her hand, Adam being flung back against a wall. Movements became instinctual, natural, fluid. "We can defeat you, together." Her voice came out strangely pitched, power raw in her tone. "And we will."

His arm turned into a gun, bullets being shot. In a single motion, Buffy had them falling. "We told you. There's no defeating a bond so strong." A flick of her wrist, and the bullets came shooting back at Adam. No damage was caused, merely distracting him. Taking her opportunity, Buffy punched through his chest, wrapping her hand around the source of his power. Black eyes looked into Adam's, whether human or demon remaining a mystery. With one harsh yank, the power source was out. A scream, writhing, horror, a thud. Adam lay on the floor, lifeless.

Buffy stared, mind buzzing with power not completely hers, world blacking out, disappearing, out of reach. Blue eyes looked into hers, and she blindly wondered at the familiarity. "Spike?" The world went black, fall stopped before she could hit the cold tile floor.

xxx

Faith hesitantly sat up, wondering if she should be running. _I'll switch back with Buffy first. This life... I can never have it._ She turned at the sound of foot steps, seeing the Spike guy carrying her body, Buffy's soul. _What if a vampire switched with a vampire, since they don't have souls?_ She pushed that thought out of her mind. She had more important things to think about.

Faith stood up, lifting one of Buffy's hands. It still had the switcher on it. She quickly linked hands. With a flash, she was being held instead of standing. Spike had set her down in an instant, catching Buffy before she could fall. Apparently the exhaustion had carried over through the switch, leaving Buffy unconscious no matter which body she was in. Faith hesitantly looked between them before making a break for it. She had to get away before the Watcher's learned that she was here. Maybe she'd try out LA.

xxx

Spike set Buffy down on Giles' couch. He raised a brow when everyone fell asleep the second they sat down. _Might as well allow them to sleep. Not like I did the joiny thing. _He lifted Buffy back into his arms, sitting down and setting her in his lap. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he felt sleep overtake him as well. His last thought was, _Guess I am tired, after all._

xxx

Faith yawned, laying out across the bench on the train. A quick nap wouldn't hurt.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own BtVS. Still_.

* * *

**_Chapter 10: Sweet Dreams Aren't Made of These_**

Buffy yawned, sitting up. She smiled, leaning into Spike's embrace. _Oh, wait. I'm mad at him. _Grudgingly, Buffy pulled herself from him, getting to her feet. On a whim, she walked outside. _Why's it so dark? _Clouds covered the sun, thick and gray. She stepped out from under the porch, pelted with hail within moments. Confused, she continued on, to the park. Eyes landed on a sandbox. As if by a magnetic pull, she sat down in the sand. A bucket and pale appeared. _I could dig, and dig, and dig..._

xxx

Spike blinked awake, the comforting pressure leaving him It took him a second to realize that he woke because Buffy was no longer within his arms. He got to his feet. How far could she have gone? He pushed the door open, stumbling into his crypt. _Bloody hell, since when was my crypt outside of Giles' house? This is going to be a bother._

Sighing, he looked around. Maybe Buffy had, for some unknown reason, gone to his crypt. His old crypt, he amended, since he now shared an apartment with her. As if some ethereal force had heard him, he tripped, falling through a random hole in the floor and landing on the bed in their apartment. _Forget finding Buffy. I need to find me._

xxx

Faith jumped up, looking around. She was in the middle of a familiar park. _The park in _Sunnydale, she realized. She looked around, spotting Buffy in the sand box, just digging away. "B, that's a pretty big hole you've dug..." It was more like a grave than a hole, really.

Buffy stared up for a moment. "I could dig, and dig, and dig, and dig, and..."

Faith turned away from the other slayer. It was too strange. A beast, dark and carnal, gave her a shove. A scream ripped from her throat as she stumbled backwards, falling into the hole Buffy had dug. Falling, falling, how far could this hole go? Abruptly, she found herself at Sunnydale High's school library. _Okay, there's something wrong here. I know for a fact that the school isn't underground. Is this a nightmare?_

She watched as Willow looked around the empty room, clearly confused.

xxx

Willow frowned. What was she doing in the old Sunnydale library? And wasn't it old and decrepit? "Red!" Willow spun around, spotting none other than Faith. "What're you doing here?"

"Beats me. Thought you might know."

"Well... It's probably best if we stay together."

xxx

Anya gasped, water invading her lungs, eyes burning from chlorine. She held up a hand, desperately begging for help. Her world started to turn black. She reached, and reached. Water choked her, as she blindly grasped at her throat.

All water suddenly disappeared, leaving Anya in the middle of Sunnydale High's library. She coughed, getting some extra water from her lungs. Rubbing her eyes, she imagined that she saw Willow and Faith running from the room. _I must have a wild imagination, cuz there's no way they got here. Unless they drowned, too. _Cold, and slightly shivering, Anya made her way to the door.

A man randomly jumped before her, nearly scaring her to death. Bald with glasses, wearing a suit, he held a platter with cheese. "Cheese for protection," he offered.

Anya thought over the offer. Xander had said not to accept things from strangers, but he also said it's rude to turn down free stuff. Which advice to follow...? _I'm always for free stuff. And who says I have to eat it? _"Will it keep away the rabbits?"

"Indeed, that is the power of cheese!" It almost sounded like he was trying to rhyme, but Anya dismissed that thought, taking a few pieces. She stuffed them in her pocket, silently wondering if Xander would clean her pants when the cheese was melted goo later.

She exited the door, falling once more, this time getting a face full of dirt. Spitting, she opened her eyes, seeing that she was within a giant desert. Beside her was Buffy, digging a grave. It actually appeared to be a second grave that she was digging, as one giant hole was already dug.

"Um, Buffy. Who died?"

"Xander," she whispered, not looking up.

"Xander?" She felt panic rip through her. "You're not serious?"

"And Willow, and Anya, and Oz, and Giles, and Spike-"

"Spike's already dead. Vampire, remember? And if he was dusted, there's no point in digging a grave."

Buffy blinked, light coming back to her eyes. "Anya. You're alive."

"Yeah, I'm alive. From what I remember, so is everyone else. What's going on?"

"I really don't know. Help me dig."

Anya frowned, but before she could disagree, she found a shovel in her hand. Suddenly, a piece of cheese flew out of her pocket, stretching until it encased the shovel. She blinked as the shovel disappeared, the giant desert looking like nothing more than a sand box. She looked around, but Buffy had disappeared.

xxx

Giles looked around the color-filled room. What was happening?

"Giles!"

He turned his head, surprised to see Anya running to him. "It's the cheese! It protects!"

"...I can't say I understand you, Anya."

She whipped a piece of cheese out of her pocket. "Illusions tried to eat and control me, but the cheese protected me. Some guy offered me some. Did he offer you any?"

"I have yet to see a man handing out cheese."

"Oh..." she said, sounding dejected.

"What about cheese?"

Giles raised a brow. Now Spike was here, too? But still no Buffy. "Anya says it will protect us."

"Alright then... Anyone seen Buffy?"

"Yeah," Anya said, "But then the cheese protected me and Buffy disappeared. I think the monster took her."

"Where'd you see her?"

"Sandbox in the park."

xxx

Xander fell out of his seat, yelping as a clawed hand descended towards his chest, an androgynous-like woman looking down at him, hair dread locked and skin dark. He rolled away from her, only to have her hand reach through his back and yank out his heart. In a now nonexistent heartbeat, she disappeared.

_My heart! I'm dead!_ Getting to his feet, Xander noted that he was in his basement. Strange. A knocking sounded at the top of the stairs. _Oh no, I'm not falling for that one_. He opted for crawling out of his window, falling into a water-color type room. He saw Anya talking to Giles, and Spike... running away? No, running to something.

"Anya? Giles? What's going on?"

Weird words escaped their lips. Xander could only recognize the beautiful language as French, not understanding a single syllable. "Alrighty then. Anyone speak English?"

Anya continued to babble in French. When he just stared, she held up a piece of cheese, putting it over her heart.

"You love cheese?"

She shook her head, hugging him and then showing him the cheese again.

"I look like a smelly piece of American Cheese. Thanks, Ahn."

She scowled at him, shoving the cheese into one of his pockets.

"Great. I've always wanted cheese in my pockets."

xxx

Spike stared blankly at the sandbox. There were two graves dug. At least they looked like graves. Why the hell was "Spike" etched in the sand above one of the graves, with a sideways sad face? At least he figured :'( was a sad face. _Bloody hell, I've already got a grave. Kinda dead. And who digs a grave for ashes, since that's all I'd be?_

Looking around, Spike raised a brow at the ice cream truck driving by. It had Anya and Xander in it. Behind him he saw... himself, in a suit? Why was he swinging with Giles? _Because this world's bloody messed up is why. Why am I looking for Buffy, anyways?_

"Cheese?"

Spike jumped, glaring at the man who had so rudely interrupted his for-once deep thoughts. "I think I _will_ take cheese. But you won't be paid." He took three pieces of cheese, raising a brow when he stuffed them into his pockets. What a strange involuntary action. He turned to the sandbox, looking at the other grave. Above it was the name _Buffy Anne Summers_.

_At least I know she's still alive,_ he thought, absentmindedly. _The grave's bloody empty. Unless she's a zombie?_

xxx

Willow paused at the park, Faith stopping beside her. "Wow. Look at this." Faith did so, looking around. Spike was on the swings with Giles while wearing a suit, one of the strangest sights she'd ever seen. _On top of the fact that the sun is out_. She raised a brow when she saw another, more normal Spike by the sandbox, staring at two graves with confusion written across his face.

Faith walked up to him, aware of Willow following her. "Spike, right?"

He turned around. "Seen Buffy? Not dead, right?"

"Why would she be dead?" asked Willow. Faith pointed to the graves.

"Oh," Willow replied. "But you're still walking around, so she should be too, right?"

"I suppose," Spike agreed, looking around. "Just a bit confused, you see."

Willow closed her eyes. "I'm getting out of here. I need to see Oz." Faith watched in awe as Willow disappeared.

"I see how it is! I help you, and you leave me here!" Faith glared up at the silent sky, quickly placing her hands over her head as it started to hail. "Strange, strange day in the rabbit hole."

"Couldn't agree more," said Spike, also holding his hands above his head. "Weather's strange, too."

xxx

Buffy traveled down the sandy hill, dead plants the only plants, with the exception of a few cacti. She squinted to keep the sand from her eyes, looking around. The place was both empty and endless. She rubbed her eyes, momentarily blinded by sand. Eyes watered, sand coming out naturally.

Vision clearing, she saw a woman before her. Dark, dread-locked hair, equally dark skin, and hunched shoulders. Skimpy clothes adorned the muscled, yet frail frame.

"Who are you?"

"My name is of no importance."

Buffy spun around, raising a brow when a strange girl spoke. Blue eyes, dirty blond hair, and a bit overweight, she had never seen the girl before. "Let her talk to me."

"She can't talk. I'm the guide. I'll tell you what she says."

"...alright." _Not like I have a choice, right? _"What am I doing here?"

"You have tampered with dark magic."

"And? I needed to combine with my friends to defeat the threat."

"A slayer should be alone, without help or friends. The slayer is a lone soldier for justice."

"Alone, I would've died," Buffy pointed out.

"Then you would've died. It is common for slayers to die in battle."

"What? You trapped me here because I had external help?" Buffy glared when no answer came. "Release me, my friends, and everyone else. Giles told me about you. No watcher. Well, I'm sorry, but things have changed since your time. Friends are a necessary part of my life that make me _stronger_, and trapping me in my mind sure as hell doesn't help anything!"

xxx

Buffy gasped, sitting up in her seat. She blinked, feeling everyone else wake up around her. Arms tightened around her possessively. "Am I the only one who had such a strange dream, love?"

"No. The first slayer, I think, trapped us all in that dream."

"She ripped my heart out," Xander complained, "in my basement."

"You must've not had a piece of cheese yet," Anya replied. "It's the slayer's weakness."

"...I swear my weakness isn't cheese," Buffy murmured.

"Oh, not you. The first slayer," Anya said, clarifying herself.

"And how come everyone spoke French to me?" Xander demanded.

"No one was speaking French," said Anya, matter-of-factly. "You must just have a weird imagination.

xxx

Faith jumped, hearing something about a last call. She quickly rushed off the train before it could get going again. _Strange dream..._

xxx

"So, let me get this straight. You, Buffy, Faith, Giles, Xander, Anya, and Spike _all_ shared a dream?"

"Yep," Willow confirmed. "It was really weird, since it was a dream and stuff. I used a spell to get out of there, though. I teleported here instead." Willow looked up at the sky. "Is tonight the full moon?"

"Yeah. If I can stay human during it, I'm going home."

Willow felt a smile take over her features, the first real one in weeks. "I'd like that."

* * *

_A.N: Hmm... Thoughts? Comments? Random words you need to share? (points to where the gray review button used to be) Oh, wait, that's unhelpful... stupid remodeling XD_


End file.
